Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded - Nicki Minaj

Cuts Only

Another week without a "This Week in Music"? Surprise, surprise. I didn't do one again. The fact of the matter is I have fallen out of love with this feature of my little blog. With so much going on, sometimes it's difficult to choose one thing to write about; then, once you have something written down, a more interesting story comes along. I'm sure it will show up once and a while, but I will do it when it's something you should know about, not just something to fill a quota every week.

This entry deals with Nicki Minaj's new one. Oh, Nicki. Weird, little human. What are we going to do with you?

It is unquestionable that Nicki Minaj has secured her place as a musical polymath by seamlessly jumping genres as easily as she straddles her multiple personae (there's Roman, the angry young male; Martha, Roman's British mother; Barbie ... wow. I can't believe I know this. I don't know how many ounces are in a quart, but I know this). She once again shows off her capabilities in both her rapping prowess and pop sensibility; however, this album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, which she has described a very liberating experience creatively, just has too much material to sort through.

I've never been a fan of the double album, and, at 19 tracks is on the border. Mostly divided into two groups — one pure rap, the other EDM pop — the album shows Minaj is more concerned about publicizing her talents as opposed to creating a magnum opus. This is fine for her fans and for most ordinary consumers of Top 40, but the obvious transitioning and a lack of artistic direction show this EP is a delivery mechanism and not an art piece.

Not to go off point, but let me give a quick example of how an album can go from great to mediocre. If anyone's not familiar with The Who's Who's Next, it might be one of the best albums of all time — certainly in Top 5 for rock albums. I first listened to it after borrowing the actual CD from a friend in high school, and I was blown away to say the least with the most iconic songs in The Who's catalog with others I have never heard before. I did get around to actually buying it. I, satiated, gave it back to my friend. Then recently I bought it off of iTunes. It only had the remastered version with alternate demos, unreleased material, blah blah blah. Not only did these unwanted materials cost more, but ultimately, I was stuck at the gym listening to the rejected version of "Behind Blue Eyes" in the middle of pushing heavy weights away from my body lest they killed me. With these add-ons, the album changed completely. I may have to modify or delete these songs off my iTunes because they just become a distraction.

Now, I admit comparing Nicki Minaj to The Who is a stretch, but I think you can see the point. If Nicki wants to lead off with "Roman Holiday," the strange skit-like performance of alter egos, by all means go ahead. But I'm convinced that if this was a 12-or 15-track LP format, she could have made the right move in taking this track off the final cut.

Much of the strength lies in the rapping. Tracks like "HOV Lane" and "Champion" put her chops on display and establish her cred within the game with big names like Nas, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross. In fact, there are times when Nicki comes harder than anyone rapping today when it comes to lyricism like in "Roman Reloaded" when she responds to the critics who say she's gone commercial. And in three minutes, she rivals quick rappers like Twista when she spews out a thousand words a minute in "Stupid Hoe."

Where it goes wrong is the pop side. There is nothing to differentiate among these because they all sound similar to the formula of "Super Bass" — a quick twelve bars of rapping with a vocal chorus. It is ironic that I mentioned the Who's Next example above because most of the best pop songs are saved for the deluxe edition of Roman Reloaded (if interested, see the more authentic, David Guetta featured addition "Turn Me On" and the Daft Punk -like "Va Va Voom"). If you're looking for a song with a good beat, you can't go wrong with the House-inspired "Automatic."

So the album has a number of shining moments, but there are times when everything halts about, especially in its second half with the vapid pop offerings. This could have been improved if some of the filler was taken out, but I'm not sure by how much. Sure to please fans and others just looking for singles, Roman Reloaded is just another sign of the times that content in small doses is better than the full effort put forth. Follow her lead, and choose a sample based on your mood. Whether you're feeling Roman or Barbie today, pick accordingly.

For Your Consideration: "HOV Lane," "Champion," "Automatic," "Stupid Hoe."

For Next Time: Jack White, I will come for you. My soul's prepared! How's yours? Better put out something good. Also .. big announcement.